The Rest of the Best

It's time to bring this series about my best blog posts to a close. So here's a flurry of other entries that I thought turned out alright, and I'll just make up a category for each of them to be the best in as I go through the list.

Mall Night - Best Simple Story.

It's Sort of Like My Economic Stimulus Check Just Got Lost in the Mail -Best Title. Best Financial Decision Piece. Best Photo Retrospective.

There's the Blogger - Most Humbling Story.

Hello? - Most Embarrassing Moment Told in a Blog Post.

Chapter Book Read Alouds for Ages 3 to 7 - Ranked - Most Useful Post. Most Visited Blog Page.

Carlos Zambrano - Best Post That I Don't Know What Type of Writing It Is

An Open Love Letter to My Wife - Most Useless Post That Gets Lots of Visits From Poor Saps Searching For Love Letter Ideas For Their Wives.

I Ride My Bicycle - Funniest Self Deprecating Post.

Two Beautiful Parks - Best Annoying Attempt at Humor Post. Best Post That I Had to Ride My Bike Really Fast to Accomplish.

Jamie Prenkert: Runner - Best Story. Best Comments.

The Truth About Santa - Most Controversial Post.

My Endorsement for President of the United States - Best Post.

My Best Sentimental Blog Posts

I do tend to be sentimental. I do not tend to be sappy though. I think these three posts fit the bill for being sentimental, yet still hanging on to their unsappiness.

• The Tandem
• Grown Man Cries in Claire's
• Unbelievably Blessed

My Best Video Posts

4. A World Record? - My best run at a Super Mario Bros. world record.

3. Play Cars - I've rehashed this link more than once now. Landen's just so stinkin' cute, I can't resist.

2. Our Best Video of The Year - Like I said, Landen is pretty stinkin' cute.

1. I'm Scared - My best video post? I bet you haven't seen this one either, and it's only 4 seconds long.

New Series - My Best Posts

My blog is just over a year old now. I've done just over 400 posts. In this blog series I am going to list the posts that I think are some of the better ones I have written thus far.

Since this is a new, rather lame-o, series, I'll start it off right with a list of my best series. It's a short list (and I promise the two series listed are WAY better than the one you are reading right now.)

1. My Old House - This series is written about the time I spent living at 104 Hartman Knoll in Nappanee. I lived there for about four year (ages 4 to 8.) I really enjoyed writing this series, and I think the enjoyment I found writing these stories shows in the quality of the posts. I enjoyed it so much, that my "week long series" grew into two weeks and 16 entries - a few kind of long, but mostly pretty short. My mom and sister commented pretty heavily on these posts. It was fun to hear their perspective on various topics. The gentleman who lives in the house now left a comment as well. For the most part these posts can be read in any order, but if you follow the link to the series, it might be best to read the first entry (at the bottom) first and the last entry (at the top) last.
   
   
2. Today - 80s Journal Style - From time to time I have posted entries from the journal I kept back in the 1980s. If you read some of the entries, you will quickly notice that they share a common writing style - My 80s Journal Style.
   
   Last May for 80s Journal Week, I emulated My 80s Journal Style with posts about what I did that day, in 2008. I think it is perhaps one of the most creative bits of writing I have done on this blog. I also think I emulated My 80s Journal Style pretty well.
   

The Elkhart Project

MSNBC is publishing a blog entitled, The Elkhart Project. The blog is a collection of news stories and videos about the recession's impact on Elkhart. The reports by Mike Brunker are in depth and frequent enough that he seems to be stationed in Elkhart for the project. The blog also links to other stories about Elkhart and northern Indiana, like this one from the Chicago Tribune about the recession's effects on the Amish community.

Vacation Expenses

We tried to keep our recent family vacation to Lexington and Pigeon Forge as inexpensive as possible. I think we managed pretty well (although, maybe I should have pulled the trigger on the three and a half star hotel I saw on Hotwire in Sevierville for $45 a night. That would have saved $150. But I'm not sure what the breakfast situation would have been with that hotel, so we might have ended up spending quite a bit more on food.)


2009 Spring Break Trip to Lexington, Kentucky and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee

Expenses to feed, lodge, entertain, transport and souvenir our family of five:

Food: $335.49 (Includes dining out, groceries, snacks, chipping in for pizza and the veggie tray we took to a family gathering.)

Lodging: $310.59 (All at the Inn at Christmas Place - my sister didn't charge us rent for the four nights we stayed at her house.)

Entertainment: $44.92 (Includes Magic Beyond Belief show for three, miniature golf for two, DVD rental for four.)

Souvenirs: $53.21 (Hat for Makenna, bear for Landen, bear for Kylee, shirt for the girls and a shirt for me.)

Transportation: $124.10 (Four tanks of gas.)

Total: $868.41

$24.80 per person, per day.

Spring Break Trip - Friday, April 10

A chronicle of our eight day spring-break trip from Nappanee, Indiana to Lexington, Kentucky and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

Spring Break Trip - Friday, April 10, 2009

The kids swam after breakfast, then we left Pigeon Forge. We drove to Knoxville and stopped at the zoo there. We have a membership at Potowatomi Zoo from last year that expires April 30. We can use it to get in to about 300 different zoos for free across the country. Knoxville is one of the reciprocal zoos. We walked around most of the zoo. The weather was great and we had a nice visit.

We left the zoo at about 1:00. We had thought about staying in Lexington one more night on the way home but decided we were ready to get home. We thought it would be nice to have all day Saturday at home before being gone all day on Easter. It took us a while to find a place for lunch, but once we finally left Knoxville we only stopped three times the rest of the way home. We got home at 10:52 PM on Friday night. We loved the trip, but were glad to be home.

Spring Break Trip - Thursday, April 9

A chronicle of our eight day spring-break trip from Nappanee, Indiana to Lexington, Kentucky and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

Spring Break Trip - Thursday, April 9, 2009
Staying in Pigeon Forge at the Inn at Christmas Place.

We ate breakfast at the hotel.

After breakfast we headed back to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The road to Clingman's Dome was open. That's where we headed. The kids added a new state to our list of ones they have visited: North Carolina.

This was a warm day, but the elevation of Clingman's Dome is 6,643 feet. At that elevation it was pretty chilly. We headed up the half-mile trail pushing Landen's jogging stroller, but only a tenth of a mile up, the snow became too deep to push the stroller any farther. Landen was going to have to walk through the snow with the rest of us. He made it just fine. I think the top of the mountain is frequently shrouded in clouds, but the weather was crystal clear this day. The view from the top was outstanding! We met another family from Nappanee at the top. They are in the slide show. On the way down we hiked on the Appalachian Trail for about 20 feet (just to say we did it.) We picked up Landen's stroller, which we had left by a bench, and headed back to the van.

On the way back toward Pigeon Forge we stopped and hiked the Sugarland Nature Trail. This spot was the complete opposite of the three previous places we visted in the park (Laurel Falls, Cade's Cove and Clingman's Dome.) All three of those spots were packed with people. At Sugarland almost no one else was around. And it is a beautiful trail. There are a few chimney's and a stone fence from the 1800s along the trail. The best part is a rocky creek which can easily be hiked across to a rocky island. Landen loved throwing rocks in the river. We stayed there for about an hour.

At about 2:20 we decided it was time to get lunch/supper. We went to Kinkaku Japanese Steak House. It is the number one rated restaurant in Pigeon Forge on Trip Advisor. We had seen that the less expensive lunch menu lasted until 3:00. We made it just before 3. It was only $33 for the five of us (plus tax and tip.) This was the first time the kids had been to a Japanese Steak House. We had an excellent chef. He was funny, kept us all entertained and prepared an excellent meal for us.

After the steak house we went back to the hotel and swam. Landen was tired, so Kristi put him to bed early. Kylee, Makenna and I went to the lobby and got free cookies and milk and watched the singing Santa. (Who did an excellent job - and did not appear in full Santa garb, thank goodness.) The girls and I then went to Walgreen's and rented Marley & Me from the Red Box. I was impressed with the Red Box. The movie was pretty good too.

Spring Break Trip - Wednesday, April 8

A chronicle of our eight day spring-break trip from Nappanee, Indiana to Lexington, Kentucky and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

Spring Break Trip - Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Staying in Pigeon Forge at the Inn at Christmas Place.

We ate breakfast at the hotel.

The weather was cool, but beautiful.

We spent most of the day in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The mountains in the park had received over a foot of snow yesterday. We had planned on going up to Clingman's Dome today, but the road was closed due to all the snow. At the visitor's center they said it could be days before the road reopened. This had me concerned because one of the goals for the trip was to get the kids into North Carolina - and the mountain route was closed. We decided to do the Laurel Falls hike. It was a beautiful hike, with snow coating the trees. When we got to the falls, someone asked us if we were from Nappanee (they had noticed Kristi's NorthWood sweatshirt.) They were from Nappanee too. Their daughter is in the photo slide show. After the Laurel Falls hike, we did the 11 mile driving loop in the Cade's Cove area. This is a historic area with some buildings that still stand from nearly 200 years ago. Landen was fascinated by the water wheel and mill. There is a gravel road from Cade's Cove that went to North Carolina, but it was closed too. However, I found out at the Cade's Cove visitor center that the other road to North Carolina (the aforementioned mountain road) had reopened. This solidified our plans for tomorrow.

On the way back to the hotel we stopped and ate a late lunch/early supper at Corky's BBQ again. We sat in the same booth and had the same waitress as yesterday. AND Landen slept through the entire meal both days we went to Corky's. He's heard us talk about how much we liked Corky's, but he doesn't remember it since he was asleep. He thinks the Japanese steak house we eat at tomorrow is called Corky's. I liked Corky's so much again I bought a Corky's t-shirt. I think it's my favorite shirt now. I told Kristi I was going to wear it for Easter. She told me she already had a shirt picked out for me though.

We swam when we got back to the hotel.

Makenna, Landen and I went to the Magic Beyond Belief show in the evening. It was excellent. The actual show part was comperable to a Vegas magic show. (Better than Lance Burton and not as good as Sigried and Roy - the two I have seen.) I do wish the show would have had a little less talking and intermission time and had just stuck to the magic aspect of the show.

While we went to the magic show Kristi and Kylee went miniature golfing. Pigeon Forge must have 50 miniature golf courses. They seemed to enjoy the one they chose.

Photos from Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Spring Break Trip - Tuesday, April 7

Spring Break Trip - Tuesday, April 7

A chronicle of our eight day spring-break trip from Nappanee, Indiana to Lexington, Kentucky and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

• We left Lexington at 8:00 AM for Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
• This was a cold day. It snowed off and on the whole way to Pigeon Forge.
• We ate lunch at Cracker Barrell in Lake City, Tennessee for lunch. The bill for our family of five? About $17, and it was plenty for us.
• We stopped at a Kroger to buy some fruit, cereal, milk and snacks for the rest of the week.
• We couldn't check in to our hotel as early as we wanted to, so we went across the street to the Incredible Christmas Place shops. We all got bored there pretty fast, so we decided to look for something more interesting to do while we waited for check-in time.
• We ended up stopping at the indoor sky-diving place. A couple different groups were just getting ready to enter the fan chamber. This was a lot of fun. The guys who worked there flew all over the place. This was more our style than Christmas decoration shopping.
• We then checked into the hotel, The Inn at Christmas Place. It is the number one rated hotel in Pigeon Forge on TripAdvisor.
  Quick Reivew: We did like the place, although I have definitely stayed at nicer places for less money. The Christmas theme was definitely not over-the-top, which was a very good thing in my opinion. The breakfast was good. The pool was fine. The glockenspiel was neat. The place was clean. The rooms were OK. The bathroom was very nice. I'd be fine with staying there again. I would also be fine with trying a different place. It just seemed to be missing a little bit to be considered a "four star" hotel. The game room and exercise room were pretty lame. Some sort of craft or pottery room would have been nice as well. Our room didn't have a sink outside of the bathroom. Oh and worst of all - the WiFi was HORRIBLE. I could rarely connect and when I could, it usually wouldn't stay connected. I found one spot in the hotel that sort of worked - right by the fireplace.
  
• We ate at Corky's BBQ for supper. Corky's is in the top 10 on Trip Advisor for restaurants in Pigeon Forge. We absolutely LOVED Corky's - so much so that we eat there tomorrow too!
• The kids swam in the hotel pool quite a bit today.
  

Spring Break Trip - Monday, April 6

Spring Break Trip - Monday, April 6

A chronicle of our eight day spring-break trip from Nappanee, Indiana to Lexington, Kentucky and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

• The weather was rainy and chilly today.
• Emma had school today.
• Kristi and I took Kylee and Makenna to Fayette Mall. Makenna has been wanting a hat. We found a pink Nike hat on sale at Dick's for $7. We got it for her. That's all we bought, except for an Icee. All four of us enjoyed the foot massager at Brookstone.
  
• We ate lunch at Logan's. There 2 Can Dine for $13.99 is a bargain. There were about 10 meals to choose from, plus you each get two sides and the free rolls. Also, all the kids meals were on sale for $2.99. Kylee and Kristi got chicken. Makenna and I got steak. My steak was excellent. One of the best I have had in a long time. So, our total bill was $19.97 before tax and tip.
• Meagan and Angie took Ben and Landen to Chick-fil A. The boys had fun playing there.
• Meagan picked up their two new foster children (Cameron and Christopher) later in the afternoon. The way Meagan and Chris welcomed these two boys into their home and made them immediately feel like a part of the family was a wonderful site to observe. Meagan and Chris have a gift and are using it fully.
• We had Pizza Hut pizza, cookies and brownies for supper.
• The kids (all seven of them) had a ball playing.
• We whisked them off to bed just in time for the NCAA championship game to start.
• We watched the game - sort of. It was such a boring game that we didn't really pay that much attention.
  

Spring Break Trip - Sunday, April 5

Spring Break Trip - Sunday, April 5

A chronicle of our eight day spring-break trip from Nappanee, Indiana to Lexington, Kentucky and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

• We spent the day in Lexington.
  
• I ran two miles in the morning. (15 minutes, 58 seconds)
• We ate lunch with Angie's (Meagan's mom) Angie's mom, sister and niece and nephew's families all came for lunch too. I grew up spending a number of weeks out of the year with them, but don't get to see them very often anymore. It's fun to get together with them.
• After lunch the kids hid Easter eggs and the adults had an Easter egg hunt. It was more fun than I thought it would be.
• Meagan took all the kids to her church's kids program in the afternoon. Kristi and I went to see a movie at the dollar theater. We saw Coraline. I did not like the movie much at all. At least it was cheap though. Our box of Milk Duds cost us 50 cents more than our two movie tickets did.
• Kristi and I ate at Qdoba after the movie. Excellent, as usual. We even tried some grilled veggies on our burrito, which we liked.
  

Photos from Sunday, April 5

Spring Break Trip - Saturday, April 4

A chronicle of our eight day spring-break trip from Nappanee, Indiana to Lexington, Kentucky and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

Want to know who's who? Read the post from the first day of the trip.

Saturday, April 4, 2009

• The kids did an Easter Egg Hunt at Firestation No. 22 in Lexington.
• We went to Ben's t-ball practice in Shillito Park. (This brought back memories because I played on a t-ball team in Shillito Park in the summer of 1979. I lived in Nappanee, but spent about six weeks at my dad's house in Lexington that summer.)
  
• While at the practice, we spotted another Easter Egg hunt that a local church was putting on in the park. The kids did that one too. These were the first two public Easter Egg hunts that I or my kids had ever participated in. The second one was split into age groups. Landen liked it much better.
  
• We at lunch at El Torro Cantina in Lexington. I think it was the best salsa I've ever had.
• Kristi and I ran 5 kilometers around the neighborhood.
  
• The weather was beatiful. The sun burnt my head.
• Meagan and Kristi did a large chalk drawing in Meagan and Chris' driveway. The kids played outside most of the afternoon. (scooters, neighbor's trampoline and swingset mostly)
  
• We watched the final four basketball games in the evening.

Photos from Saturday, April 4

Spring Break Trip - Friday, April 3

A chronicle of our eight day spring-break trip from Nappanee, Indiana to Lexington, Kentucky and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

Friday, April 3, 2009

• Kristi and I worked all day.
• We left for Lexington at 4:45 PM.
• The kids all slept from Rochester to Kokomo.
• Traffic was bad in Kokomo. We took side roads to miss most of the stop lights.
• We cut back over at the Kokomo Mall and ate at Qdoba.
  
• We made it to Lexington on one tank of gas (which wasn't quite full when we left.)
• We put gas in the van at the Palomar shopping center in Lexington then headed on to find my sister, Meagan's new house. We would have driven right to their house, but I thought my brother-in-law, Chris, had told me that their house was NOT in Rabbit Run. It is in Rabbit Run, so this threw me off. After we figured out it is in Rabbit Run, I found it quickly.
• We got to their house right around 11:45 PM.
  

• We stayed up and talked to Meagan, Chris and their kids, Emma and Ben. Emma is about Kylee and Makenna's age. Ben is a little older than Landen.